12 dead as military helicopter crashes near Mansehra

At least 12 Army personnel, including five Majors, were martyred in an Army Aviation MI-17 helicopter crash near Lassan Nawab area of Mansehra on Thursday evening.

“There were 12 people on board, all military men”.

However, a senior army officer told The Associated Press that the helicopter was carrying 12 people- including military doctors, paramedics and crew members – and was flying to Gilgit to evacuate a critically ill soldier when it went down, apparently because of bad weather.

An official of the military’s media wing confirmed the incident, adding that the helicopter was carrying relief items and medicines to Gilgit.

He said the helicopter crashed over the mountains in the Mohar area of northern Mansehra district.

“The accident occurred in a hilly area that is not easily accessible, and the helicopter is still on fire”, he said.

The accident comes hours after a helicopter of the Pakistan air force crashed in the flood-hit district of Chitral, although no causalities were reported.

“An army helicopter carrying relief items crashed around 35 kilometers (around 22 miles) northwest of Mansehra this evening”.

“Rescuers have so far retrieved 11 bodies from the wreckage”, he said, adding that the cause of the crash was unclear and that an investigation was underway.

The copter was a Russian-built Mi-17, the same type which crashed in May in hills near Gilgit, killing seven people, including two foreign envoys.